Inverclyde Economic Development Regeneration
Single Operating Plan
April 2016 to March 2019
(14th April 2016)
Contents
1. Our approach to Inverclyde’s Economic Regeneration 4
2. Context 5
3. Economic opportunities and challenges 10
4. Our vision and priorities 16
5. Delivering the Plan 22
6. Our priority projects and investments 28
7. Financial resources 37
8. Monitoring progress and outcomes 40
9. Outline marketing strategy 43
10. Updating and reviewing the Plan 48
Appendices...... 48-65
1. Our approach to Inverclyde’s Economic Regeneration
Our ambition is clear - to create, attract and safeguard more and better jobs in Inverclyde with an emphasis on the private sector. This will lead the way to a more prosperous, competitive, balanced and sustainable local economy, delivering economic regeneration for the benefit of all our businesses, residents, and communities. We will achieve this by expanding our business base, supporting the growth of SME’s and business start-ups, attracting new firms and investment, building the skills and employability of local people, and regenerating key economic sites and communities.
This update to the Inverclyde Economic Development and Regeneration Single Operating Plan sets out the priority projects and investments we will deliver over the three years from April 2016 to March 2019, to progress towards achieving our ambition.
Our plans balance ambition with deliverability, focusing on key priorities and opportunities to improve the local economy and build on the recovery, while addressing the challenges posed by reduced levels of public funding and private investment for economic regeneration. The plan focuses resources on a narrower set of priorities and actions with the greatest potential to deliver new jobs and wealth. It continues to be a three year rolling plan, which will be reviewed and updated annually and which will respond flexibly to evolving opportunities and challenges.
This Plan is a joint enterprise between Inverclyde Council’s Regeneration Team and our local urban regeneration company, Riverside Inverclyde (ri). It is based on our two key local regeneration agencies continuing to work closely together towards shared priorities and objectives, pooling our resources and efforts to maximise the economic potential of the area, and achieve better outcomes for our businesses, residents and communities. Through integrated partnership working, we will improve the effectiveness and impact of our combined activities and investments, at the same time as maximising our efficiency and value for money.
The Plan focuses on the projects, investments and services to be delivered or led directly by the Council’s Regeneration Team and ri, building on existing plans and financial commitments, at the same time as establishing some new actions to be taken forward in the next three years.
While the Plan is focused on the actions of Inverclyde Council and ri, we understand and value the very important role played by other partners in the economic regeneration of the area, including the private sector, the Scottish Government, Scottish Enterprise, Skills Development Scotland, and many more. We will work in close partnership with all of these organisations to secure Inverclyde’s economic regeneration. Working together, we will build a stronger, more competitive and prosperous Inverclyde.
2. Context
2.1 The changing economic regeneration environment
Scotland’s economic recovery following the Great Recession compares well against that of the UK as a whole. In measures of productivity, labour market participation and earnings Scotland has reduced the gap to the UK average[1], and the Scottish economy now has the highest employment rate, lowest unemployment rate and lowest rate of economic inactivity of all four Home Nations.
At an Inverclyde level, there has also been a gradual improvement in the local economy, with a notable fall in unemployment. Economic statistics for Inverclyde highlight the following issues:
§ Unemployment in Inverclyde has fallen, from 12.2% in June 2012 to 7.4% in June 2015 (compared to a fall from 8.1% to 5.7% across Scotland during the same period)[2]. While still higher than the national average, unemployment has fallen at a faster rate in Inverclyde.
§ The JSA claimant count has also fallen in Inverclyde, from 5.3% in October 2012 to 3.0% in October 2015, compared to national rates which have fallen from 3.9% to 2.0% over the same period[3].
§ Average earnings (gross weekly pay for full-time workers) have increased from £454.80 in 2012 to £509.40 in 2014 in Inverclyde[4] (a 12% increase), compared to a change from £508.30 in 2012 to £520.80 in 2014 across Scotland (a 3% increase).
§ While the proportion of people with no qualifications in Inverclyde has fallen (from 13.4% in 2012 to 12.6% in 2014), it remains higher than the national average for Scotland (9%)[5].
§ The number of enterprises in Inverclyde has increased from 1,460 in 2012 to 1,605 in 2015, an increase of 10%[6].
However, despite these positive indicators there remain significant challenges for continuing economic regeneration. For example, reduced levels of public sector funding will continue to have a significant impact on regeneration efforts, (between 2010/11 and 2015/16 the Scottish Government saw a 10% cut in real terms to funding[7]), and this reduced level of public sector funding is likely to continue into the near future.
Other issues impacting on economic growth and regeneration include low pay growth, poor productivity, and significant underemployment (some 248,000 people are underemployed in Scotland, 32% higher than in 2008[8]). This situation is mirrored at in Inverclyde level, where there are a significant number of jobless residents, and wages and skills levels remain below the national average.
Within this current economic environment, there is a need to capitalise on emerging opportunities, maximise the use of limited financial resources, and to find new ways of delivering regeneration and economic development activity in future. Some key developments and opportunities for Inverclyde include:
§ The Scottish Government has identified the manufacturing industry as a priority for the Scottish economy. While it represents just 10% of total Gross Value Added, it accounts for 52% of international exports and 54% of all Scottish business R&D spend. Manufacturing jobs also help to drive the prosperity of communities, with average wages in the sector above the Scottish average[9]. The growth and development of this important sector in Scotland presents economic opportunities for Inverclyde, in terms of: supporting the growth of local manufacturing businesses; improving access to finance and expert advice to support innovation, exporting, or skills development; and creating new employment opportunities which offer at least the living wage.
§ The Glasgow City Region[10] supported by the investment secured through the Glasgow and Clyde Valley City Deal, will be an engine of economic growth, benefiting both Glasgow City and the surrounding local authority areas. The City Deal, which is one of the largest ever agreed, has secured long-term investment in a range of regeneration programmes and activities, with potential to generate economic opportunities and benefits for businesses and residents in Inverclyde. This includes, for example: investment in infrastructure to unlock the development of key strategic sites; and employability programmes supporting young people and vulnerable residents to develop skills, overcome barriers, and progress towards work.
§ The Glasgow City Region has existing strengths in key sectors with growth potential (e.g. financial services, engineering, manufacturing, life sciences, and creative and media) presenting a range of economic opportunities to City Region partners, including, for example: supply chain development; provision of work-related training at a range of levels for emerging employment opportunities; or accessing finance to support innovation, new product development or diversification.
§ Collaboration with key partners, at a national and regional level, to: maximise the impact of existing (committed) economic development resources; enable businesses to access and benefit from existing programmes of support (e.g. focused on innovation, exporting, energy and resource efficiency); and to focus activity on the delivery of key strategic investments.
§ Develop partnership bids for competitive funding, for example from the new ESIF[11] Programmes, Lottery, Scottish Enterprise investment, the Scottish Government Regeneration Capital Grant Fund, or the Government’s Energy Efficiency Programme.
§ Focus on creating new employment opportunities with a particular emphasis in the private or third sector to reduce an over-reliance on, and mitigate against the risks of a reduction in public sector employment.
§ Focusing employment support and skills initiatives to address unemployment, including youth unemployment, and support inclusive growth, ensuring the support available is accessible to people of all backgrounds, including the ‘hardest to reach’.
§ Capitalise on high profile events (e.g. Grand Prix of the Sea event) to promote Inverclyde’s tourism offer, support local tourism businesses, and increase the number of tourism visits to the area.
2.2 The wider strategic context
There are a number of key national, city region and local strategies and statutory plans that provide the wider context for the delivery of regeneration and economic development activities in Inverclyde. These documents describe the national policy context, key strategic drivers, and priorities, as well as identifying key local development opportunities and a framework for local delivery. The key documents include:
§ Scotland’s Economic Strategy (2015) which sets out a clear framework for growth based on improving competitiveness and tackling inequality, with activity focused on four strategic priorities[12] to drive sustainable and inclusive economic growth at a national level.
§ Scottish Enterprise Business Plan (2015 – 18). Sets out a strategy to increase the international competitiveness of Scotland’s key sectors and companies, and the potential level of public resources available to support it, built around the Government’s four strategic priorities.
§ Scotland’s Trade and Investment Strategy (2016-21) recognises the continued importance of international trade to long term economic growth, alongside the key challenges that need to be addressed to boost Scotland’s exports. The strategy describes the Government’s ambition to support sustainable business growth, and associated jobs and income, through an eight point action plan for trade and investment.
§ A Manufacturing Future for Scotland (2016) sets out an action plan to work with industry to deliver a range of initiatives designed to boost productivity, stimulate innovation and investment, improve energy efficiency, and develop skills within the manufacturing industry.
§ European Structural Funds (2014-20) sets out the framework for the management and allocation of ERDF, ESF and Rural Development Funds for the period 2014-20. Based on the three themes of Europe 2020 (Smart, Sustainable and Inclusive Growth) the strategy focuses on supporting business competiveness and growth, skills and employment, social inclusion, innovation, the low carbon economy, and resource efficiency.
§ Glasgow and the Clyde Valley City Deal (2014) sets out ambitious investment plans to support economic growth and regeneration across the Glasgow City Region over the next 10 – 20 years.
§ City Deal Community Benefits Strategy (2015-2020) builds on existing good practice across the eight local authorities to deliver community benefits, ensuring a consistent, collaborative, and inclusive approach is adopted to maximise the social, economic, and environmental benefits of regeneration.
§ Glasgow and the Clyde Valley Strategic Development Plan (May 2012), and the Inverclyde Local Development Plan (June 2014). Statutory documents focused on the key development opportunities across the City Region, and within Inverclyde for a range of economic activities e.g. industrial, housing, leisure, and town centre developments.
§ The Community Empowerment Act (2015), creates a legal framework to fully engage people in communities in a range of ways to get pro-actively involved in the design and delivery of public services and to support public sector organisations to achieve better outcomes for communities.
§ Achieving a Sustainable Future: The Scottish Government Regeneration Strategy (2011) describes the overall approach to regeneration as being a holistic means of addressing the economic, physical and social needs of communities, placing community-led regeneration[13] at the heart of effective delivery.
§ The Inverclyde Alliance Single Outcome Agreement (2013-2017) Inverclyde Together describes how the key partners working together will contribute to the economic and social regeneration of Inverclyde.
There are also a number of sector specific strategies and action plans (e.g. for offshore renewables, tourism, cultural and creative industries) which provide a framework to support the growth of these sectors across Scotland.
The key themes emerging from the above documents provide the overall context for regeneration and economic development across Scotland, and create opportunities for regeneration within Inverclyde. This includes:
§ A focus on growth sectors, markets and companies. Targeting limited public resources on those companies and sectors with the greatest potential for growth, and supporting businesses to innovate, and access overseas growth markets. Within this theme is a clear focus on supporting innovation and commercialisation, and encouraging greater collaboration between universities and private business.
§ An emphasis on inclusive economic growth. There is a clear focus on delivering initiatives to achieve a more inclusive economy, including: opening up employment opportunities to people from all backgrounds; supporting businesses to operate in an ethical way e.g. by paying the living wage; and ensuring equitable access to employment and skills support services.
§ Building the skills base and improving employability. There is a particular focus on developing the work-related skills of young people to address high levels of youth unemployment, and ensure the future workforce has the skills required by employers.
§ City Regions as engines of economic growth. Infrastructure investments and place development initiatives are focused on major cities and their surrounding regions to maximise their potential as drivers of economic growth.
§ The transition to a low carbon economy. This remains a key theme for the Scottish Government and which has informed the focus of other key strategies. This cuts across many sectors and themes and includes, for example, supporting companies to become more resource efficient; building energy efficient housing, commercial and industrial property; promoting the use of new forms of energy generation; developing the supply chain for renewable energy companies; and training and skills development to meet emerging employment opportunities.
3. Economic opportunities and challenges
The wider economic context presents real opportunities for Inverclyde to exploit, although there are also some challenges to overcome in achieving the vision of Inverclyde being a vibrant part of a strong city region, with a thriving, competitive economy and sustainable communities.